Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Exchanging your services for services is possible with legal counsel, accountants, engineers, and even sales people.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Steve Blank

MARCH 15, 2011

Our new Stanford Lean LaunchPad class was an experiment in a new model of teaching startup entrepreneurship. what’s the product? Come up with ways to test each of the 9 business model canvas hypotheses. Their business was a robot lawn mower. The market is large enough for a scalable business.

Business Model 236

Business Model Nebraska Peru Germany 236

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Last May, I shared the news that long-time Lean Startup advocates Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits were working on a new book called The Lean Entrepreneur featuring illustrations by FAKEGRIMLOCK. LitMotors approach to using Lean Startup to create a new vehicle category. That new book is about to hit bookstores everywhere.

Lean 167

Lean Entrepreneur Agile San Francisco 167

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Steve Blank, a serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, developed a methodology for creating businesses that runs in parallel with the traditional product development process. The core idea behind customer development is that the assumptions you make about a target market are only guesses. Pivot the product entirely.

Customer Development 126

Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 126

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

What matters is proving the viability of the company’s business model, what investors call “traction.&# Of course this is not at all true of many profitable small businesses, but they are not what I mean by startups.) In fact, this company hasn’t shipped any new products in months.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 29, 2009

I hope to show why lean and agile techniques actually reduce the negative impacts of technical debt and increase our ability to take advantage of its positive effects. Startups especially can benefit by using technical debt to experiment, invest in process, and increase their product development leverage.

Technical Review 168

Technical Review Software Review San Francisco Lean 168

Steve Blank

MARCH 4, 2014

The Enterprise: Business Model Execution We know that a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. The corollary for an enterprise is: A company is a permanent organization designed to execute a repeatable and scalable business model.

IRR 335

IRR Startup Business Model Agile 335

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Twenty eight years ago I was the bright, young, eager product marketing manager called out to the field to support sales by explaining the technical details of Convergent Technologies products to potential customers. So their management teams were insisting that they OEM (buy from someone else) these products.

Technology 138

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 138

Steve Blank

JANUARY 6, 2014

In the last few years Agile and “Continuous Deployment” has replaced Waterfall and transformed how companies big and small build products. Agile is a tremendous advance in reducing time, money and wasted product development effort – and in having products better match customer needs. It enables new business models.

Continuous Deployment 329

Continuous Deployment Customer Agile Cloud 329

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2015

I suggested the best place to start the conversation is with the 21 st century definition of a startup: A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Startups have finite time and resources to find product/market fit before they run out of money.

Widget 120

Widget Lean Business Model Metrics 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

The Founder’s New Insight Smart founders are never satisfied with simply executing their current business model, they are constantly observing, orienting and deciding whether their current business model can be made better. It’s a natural part of learning about your customers and business model.)

Customer 195

Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 195

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

Learn why the traditional way of writing a five-year business plan is often a waste of time and how to use a Lean Plan instead for smarter, easier strategic planning to establish your long-term vision. So, if thinking about the future isn’t a waste of time, why are 5-year business plans a waste of time? Let’s be real.

Business Plan 83

Business Plan Lean Forecast Exit Strategy 83

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Having a business plan shows that you’ve done the homework of thinking through how your business will work and what goals you’re trying to achieve. A business plan provides the structure for thinking through these things and documents your answers so you’re prepared for the inevitable questions investors will ask about your business.

Business Plan 138

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Exit Strategy 138

K9 Ventures

AUGUST 13, 2010

So the departments either didn’t have the capacity to pay or it would be an endless sales-cycle, where we would spend lots of time on the sales, but it still wouldn’t close. In the end the revenue simply wasn’t enough to make a sustainable business and so we had to switch gears once more (in today’s parlance that would be a “Pivot”).

Revenue 72

Revenue Developer Java Customer Development 72

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2017

Website, web app, or a mobile app—what would be the right “form” for your business idea ? Since the release of the very first iPhone, everyone has been treating the mobile-first business model as the new gold rush. Before devoting resources to building a full version, consider launching an MVP (minimal viable product) first.

Mobile 81

Mobile Application Development Web Software Review 81

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

This post describes a solution – the Customer Development Model. In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provide the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development.

Customer Development 242

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 242

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

Execution by Vertical Market As the class progressed, students asked how the activities/functions of a startup; (Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Product Development, etc.) For example, How does sales differ from one market to another? Innovation – Business Model? Technology?

Vertical 122

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 122

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 16, 2010

First, SlideShare is a fantastic product (that I use on a regular basis) and an impressive company example of Lean Startup practices in action. Second, their story illustrates a key Lean Startup idea: proving the business in micro-scale. That is the essence of proving the business in micro-scale. How are we doing?

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Analytics Continuous Deployment 167

Up and Running

JULY 24, 2015

On Bplans, you’ll find templates, free eBooks, and articles on how to plan and start your business. Business Model Generation. This website offers a downloadable worksheet called a business model canvas that helps you think through your business idea. Product development. Edison Nation.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Small Business Administration SBA Pennsylvania 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 1, 2012

Because you get organized around marketing metrics, because your campaigns get optimized, because your landing pages and drip campaigns become stronger, because word of mouth produces sales “for free,” and so forth. Another is that average revenue per customer increases. Pretty much everything about it is nicer!

Customer 320

Customer Revenue Acquisition Cofounder 320

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Step 1: Start with a lean plan. Instead of sitting down to write a 40-page business plan, start with a one-page pitch. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

ConversionXL

JUNE 14, 2021

For example, two days after they cancelled their subscription to your SaaS product. Let them know it’s not a thinly-veiled sales call. We’re open to feedback no matter how negative it is, and I can promise you this is not a sales call in disguise. Sign up for a demo and go through the sales process.

Software Review 158

Software Review Audience Differentiation Framework 158

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Is there a profitable business model? The Traditional VC Pitch Entrepreneurs who pursue the traditional product development model don’t have customer data to answer these questions.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 21, 2013

Lean Analytics is the latest addition to the Lean Series. Business growth comes from improving one of these five “knobs”: More stuff means adding products or services, preferably those you know your customers want so you don’t waste time building things they won’t use or buy.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Metrics Churn Rate 167

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 1, 2017

And then I think in a lot of ways it’s become air for every sort of channel and element and, even as you suggest in your last book, a business model in itself. We think there’s something bigger, as Robert talked about and you talked about, this is a business model change. John Jantsch: Yeah. Robert Rose: Yeah.

Cost 37

Cost Marketing Audience Media 37

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 4, 2021

Modern entrepreneurship began at the turn of the 21 st century with the observation that startups aren’t smaller versions of large companies – large companies at their core execute known business models, while startups search for scalable business models. Problem – Lean Doesn’t Have a Market Definition Step.

Customer 420

Customer Marketing Lean Vertical 420

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 3, 2012

The Lean Start-Up movement, as exemplified in Eric Ries' book The Lean Start-Up, has appropriately focused a great deal of attention on the hard decisions and techniques required to create a company from nothing. This is the magic of what Akamai and other multi-product companies achieve as they scale. How did Akamai do it? .

Distribution 49

Distribution Lean Massachusetts Cofounder 49

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 30, 2018

Many established companies today are experiencing unprecedented levels of instability in their business models, brought on by technological disruption and, yes, those startups chasing their markets. And does that value provide societal benefits beyond sales and profits?

Metrics 349

Metrics Startup Lean Detroit 349

Up and Running

JANUARY 17, 2014

The phrase “lean startup” comes up a lot in conversations about entrepreneurship. I’ve been to several panel discussions on the topic, had it taught to me in a business school classroom, and read a book dedicated to lean startup methodology. Revise your product or service as quickly as possible. Getting customer feedback.

Lean 107

Lean Startup Philadelphia Business Model 107

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Almost all of the companies we invested in in 2017 had customers even if they didn’t have much of a product. Those who didn’t have a product or much of a product used a concierge model of sorts ala Lean Startup philosophy to start running their business. This one is pretty investor-specific.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Business Model B2B Email 48

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Almost all of the companies we invested in in 2017 had customers even if they didn’t have much of a product. Those who didn’t have a product or much of a product used a concierge model of sorts ala Lean Startup philosophy to start running their business. This one is pretty investor-specific.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Business Model B2B Email 48

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

In particular, a marketing launch can help you do three things (courtesy, as is most of my marketing advice, of The Four Steps to the Epiphany ): Drive customers into your sales pipeline. You have to know your business model. Most startups launch before theyve figured out what business theyre in. Gattiker said.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

conversionxl.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

Steve Blank, a serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, developed a methodology for creating businesses that runs in parallel with the traditional product development process. The core idea behind customer development is that the assumptions you make about a target market are only guesses. Pivot the product entirely.

Customer Development 60

Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 19, 2010

You don't have an "edge" just because you're passionate, hard-working, or "lean.". Adriana has been a psychiatrist for 10 years; she understands the ins and outs of that business. During a lull in her practice she got a serendipitous opportunity to shift gears completely and ended up leading software product development teams.

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

You have your general management meeting and in your general management meeting you talk about product development, about marketing and about finance. Edwin: Oh sorry, so the business model. Edwin: The business model is that the organizer has to pay. You clearly can produce a product and so on.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 8, 2015

Wants to promote intrapreneurship to extend its business model and retain creative employees like Google, Amazon, and Facebook do. There needs to be prior agreement on what happens if the division develops disruptive products that do not fit the existing company business model. Does it become a new division?

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Acquisition Boston Early Stage 120

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

million registered users, 7500 supplier partners, 600 team members, and a run-rate of more than $150M in sales in just 15 months. I firmly believe that in this age where the product development life-cycle is so short and user feedback comes so quickly, you will know within a year whether you are focusing on a worthwhile one thing.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108